Welcome to VOICE!

To our fellow volunteers,
 
This letter is to update all of you on the formation of VOICE, the volunteer group that has been established to serve volunteers and to support ONT leadership and staff. After meeting with Tracey Friedman and the ONT Leadership Team last week, VOICE is now an official group at Our Neighbors’ Table.
 
The main goals of VOICE are:

• provide a means for more consistent communication between volunteers and staff, including the leadership team
• assist in the development of consistent training and integration of new volunteers and provide ongoing support of all volunteers
• gather and summarize volunteer feedback
• strengthen transparency around operational changes that impact volunteer roles
• promote volunteer engagement and retention

 
There is still be a good deal of work to be done to implement these goals. However, in the weeks and months ahead you will see new information in the weekly newsletter and the Volunteer Hub that is designed to increase volunteer knowledge of operations at ONT and how we can participate by our work and feedback. Please continue to be patient as ideas are rolled out and we try new ways to communicate with all of you.
 
VOICE would not have happened without the support and collaboration of numerous individuals. First of all, a huge thank you to the members of the Steering Committee (Lisa Friberg, Marcia Mucci, Bob Murciak, Megan St. John, and Dan Van Roosendaal). Many hours have been spent discussing the formation of VOICE, analyzing input from the questionnaire and town halls, and drafting a formal proposal. This group has also graciously offered to continue working on VOICE as we continue to get established. Additionally, Jonathan Oski will come on board to help with communication.
 
ONT staff have also been very helpful and supportive in developing VOICE. All market and warehouse supervisors (Kati, Kyle, Justin, Dan, and Adam) have graciously taken time to discuss priorities as well as how to increase daily communication with volunteers. Amber, as Assistant Director of Food Programs, and Will, Communication Director, have also spent numerous hours discussing how ONT and VOICE can work together. Their collaboration has already been visible in the weekly volunteer newsletter. Susan, Operations Manager from the front office, has been invaluable in many ways - including setting up technology that we have used to analyze data from the questionnaire and creating an email for VOICE. All of the staff in the front office have been very encouraging and supportive, including Tracey Friedman, who from the time that she began as Executive Director has offered to help in whatever way that she can. In fact, Tracey was the one who came up with VOICE as an acronym for our group the first time that we met.
 
Lastly, thank you to all volunteers who participated in the questionnaire and/or town halls, or have expressed interest in the development and progress of VOICE. Encouragement is always welcome in this type of endeavor. Going forward you may be asked to participate in various ways such as by checking out new types of information that will be posted in the weekly newsletter or on Volunteer Hub. You may also be asked to give feedback, propose new ideas, and occasionally answer surveys to check our progress. We look forward to hearing from you!
 
Thank you again,
Rita Comtois, VOICE Chair